Independence Initiative Limited (The Indy) has received a grant of £41,670 from Nationwide Building
Society as part of their Community Grants programme, which brings their members and colleagues
together to help tackle the housing crisis.
The Indy’s transitional housing project focuses on 2 key stages that ensure people can find and keep
a home and then prepare themselves for a brighter, independent future. Warm Welcome (stage 1)
focuses on the first 8 weeks of residency. This focus builds trust rapidly and draws people into the
Indy community – early pilot suggests 19% improvement in resident retention. Stage 2 (Brighter
future) provides weekly group sessions designed to improve planning for independent living. These
include daily living skills (including healthy shopping/cooking/eating), self-care (accessing healthcare
and wellbeing activities), money management and tenancy readiness (rent, behaviours,
communication, managing conflict). Our partnership with One Vision Housing enables residents to
fast-track into social housing in most cases. Lockdown taught the Indy how important digital skills
are and they provide weekly skills sessions, and free access to Wi-Fi at all locations. They also
provide 1-2-1 support with welfare rights and education/employability support. Their residents are
all recently released offenders with histories of homelessness and mental ill-health (including
substance misuse).
Jim Brett, CEO, of The Indy said: “The funding from Nationwide Community Foundation is fantastic
and will provide us with the financial means to help deliver on our aims and objectives. We support
people to stop offending, enable recovery and build independence together. Many of our residents
have spent years moving from place to place with little, if any, stability in their lives. We are
confident that we can help them to avoid homelessness and build foundations for healthier, more
positive futures”.
Britain’s biggest building society has run its Community Grants programme since 2017 – offering
grants of up to £50,000 to local charities and projects, particularly those focussed on housing. This
year, it’s awarded a total of £4.3 million to 96 housing related projects across the UK.
Craig Taylor, Senior Social Investment Manager at Nationwide Building Society, said: “Helping local
communities and charities is at the heart of what it means to be a building society for Nationwide.
We are pleased our Community Grants programme is going to make a difference through this
£41,670 grant to Independence Initiative Limited, helping them make a difference to the lives of
those who rely on their services.”
Over the last five years, Nationwide Building Society has awarded £22 million to housing charities up
and down the UK. That means almost 118,500 people are now living safer, happier lives. From April
2023, Nationwide will be offering new grant applicants up to £60,000 to support those in housing
need.
